Neapolitan Christmas Crib, 4th Day of UK Christmas

Okay, so this isn't so much a UK thing, but there's a special Neapolitan Christmas Crib at St. Josephs, the church we went to on Christmas morning. I hadn't heard of such cribs before and was delightfully surprised when I saw it. Here's the description from the church bulletin:

The Neapolitan Christmas Crib – As you may have noticed in the entrance of the Church lobby (by Our Lady) a crib is being assembled, as we did last year. The origins of the Neapolitan crib dates back to 1223 when St Francis of Assisi gave life to the ancient religious play of the Nativity, by carrying it for the first time near Greccio woods. To this day the Neapolitan people, as a tradition, like to make the crib which must be ready for display by December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and taken down after the Feast of the Epiphany. Tradition also states that a donation box be placed near the crib for the faithful to make a donation to Catholic Care Children’s Charity.

The crib is actually a large, elaborate Nativity scene, including not only the stable where the Christ child was born but also much of the neighboring town and countryside. I've always loved miniature towns, one of the attractions of elaborate train sets. (Interestingly, there are no miniature train exhibits for Christmas like we had back in the States.) Elements like little houses, water wheels, vehicles, etc., are fascinating to look at. The intricacy and artistry is often quite admirable.

Jacob and Lucy were as fascinated as I was.

Neapolitan Cribs are also fun because they often encorporate anachronistic elements like the following:

Meat and cheese shop with loafers on the roof!

Jacket potatoes and fish and chips, a Bethlehem specialty?

Fruit and veg shop!

Of course the central part of the scene is the stable where Jesus was born.

You can read more about Neapolitan cribs here.

For an English nativity scene connection, check out this story from Wikipedia:

A tradition in England, involved baking a mince pie in the shape of a manger to hold the Christ child until dinnertime when the pie was eaten. When the Puritans banned Christmas celebrations in the 17th century, they also passed specific legislation to outlaw such pies, calling them "Idolaterie in crust".^[5]

Also, we went to Ripon Cathedral and saw a regular nativity set that was beautiful if not whimsical.

Classical nativity (yes, that is a tomb on the left!)

Lucy and the Three Wise Men on the other side of the cathedral, on their way to see Jesus.

Christmas Lights in Harrogate, 3rd Day of UK Christmas

Last month (November 2011), we went to Harrogate to see the lighting of the Christmas tree and to have our first encounter with Father Christmas.

We wandered along the streets of the town on our way to the tree lighting. We were amazed at the variety of lights we saw.

Lucy on a street with minimal lights

Jacob on a more active street, though he wasn't impressed.

Lots of lights!

Jacob's favorite street of lights was this amazing pedestrian street:

We all were wowed!

I was delighted to see nativity lights over another street.

Finally coming to the square where the lighting would happen, we saw a mobile stage set up and heard music blaring from a local FM station. One of the DJs was there hosting the event live.

Some women from X-Factor performed, but I think they were early drop outs from the show.

The music was a bit too loud for Jacob, so we departed before the tree was lit, though we did get a shot of the pre-lit tree.

Lucy didn't mind the noise level

Also, there's a nativity scene in the same square behind the stage. And a large rotating snowflake that Jacob admired.

Don't ask why the wise men have security tags on their backsides!

Jacob was mesmerized by the spinning snowflake

On our way back, we went into a charity shop that had mostly books. All the second hand/thrift stores in the UK are attached to some charity, so customers are supporting the charity when they make purchases or donate there. We found a signed copy of Garth Nix's Lirael and bought it without a second thought.

It was a fun excursion, even if we didn't get to meet Father Christmas.

Are those Tiny Tim's crutches on the ends?

For Queen and Doctor, 2nd Day of UK Christmas

A long standing tradition in England is the Queen's Address on Christmas Day. The tradition was started by George V in 1932 (which I suppose in the grand tradition of the country isn't that old, but still it is beyond the memory of many people, and of course with him it was called the King's Address) with a radio broadcast. She herself gave the first televised message in 1957. This year's Christmas message was broadcast on BBC One at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, which was 3:00 p.m. our local time. We are unable to receive broadcasts on our American TV but we could watch live on-line at the BBC's web site (after confirming that we have paid the BBC license).

She spoke about the importance of family and how all nations and people in the Commonwealth are family in a real and true sense. We are drawn together, especially through adversity. Adversity brings out the best in communities, the best in people. The message of Christmas is one of hope, for Jesus Himself was born in a time of great adversity and gave the example of love, care, and forgiveness that we all need. She spoke of her state visit to Ireland and how through sorrow and forgiveness troubled relations can be repaired. She spoke quite eloquently. Her speech (which she wrote herself) was amazingly and sincerely Christian. You'd never hear anything remotely like it from an American politician. I suppose as Queen she transcends partisan politics and she shows the best of the British spirit. Her speech is definitely worth listening too.



A much newer tradition in England is the Doctor Who Christmas Special, which started in 2005 during the current revival of the franchise. This year's episode, called "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe," (clearly a C. S. Lewis homage) was broadcast Christmas night at 7:00 p.m. in England. We were in the middle of dessert and Skyping with family and bedtime for the children and were unable to watch when it was broadcast. We will watch it soon on the BBC iPlayer.

For those in America, it is showing on BBC America.

Christmas Mass(es) 2011, 1st Day of UK Christmas

For our first Christmas in England, we went to the 5 p.m. children's Mass at St. Roberts. We tried to get there by 4:30 but only left the house at 4:30, so the plan didn't work. I dropped off Angie and the children at 4:42 and went in search of a parking spot. The church's parking lot is pretty small and nothing was available; nor were any of the spots on the street. The supermarket across the way had a special sign up saying, "Parking for Waitrose Customers Only." I drove around the neighborhood for quite a while until I wound up parking by the library four blocks away. That wouldn't have been so bad except for the cold rain that was coming down.

By the time I arrived at church, people were already packed into the vestibule with one or two standing outside the doors. I waded in through the crowd and spotted my family standing by on the left side aisle. We stood through the Mass with some friends. The church was the fullest I'd ever seen it. Just like Bethlehem with no rooms at any of the inns.

Mass went fairly normally until the Gospel. At that point, some of the children came forward and read the nativity from St. Luke. A few appropriate hymns were sprinkled in. Then Father invited the children to sit up front for the homily. Jacob and Lucy went forward with Mommy. The homily was definitely aimed at the children. Father asked the children a bunch of questions about the first Christmas. Then he opened a present, though not before trying to get the children to guess what it was. They shook the box, tried to guess from the shape and the weight, etc. When he finally unwrapped it, it was not what they were expecting. Father said this was like the mystery of Christmas. Many of the Jews were expecting the messiah to come as a military leader to kick out the Romans if not take over the world. Instead, He came as an infant in the most humble of circumstances. And His gift of eternal life is more glorious than any temporal good that can be given. Father managed to pull a great message out of what started pretty routinely and seemed to take a wrong turn.

The rest of Mass went very well considering the circumstances. Jacob and Lucy were very patient if not very attentive. Our friends brought their son and Lucy did some book and toy swapping back and forth silently during Mass. Going to communion was not as hectic as I thought, even with the aisles packed with parishioners. We did light candles at the end of Mass. Jacob and Lucy prayed for Mommy and Daddy. All in all, it was a distracting Christmas Vigil but still good. The Mass is the Mass after all.

On Christmas morning, we went to St. Josephs (another church in town) for the 8 a.m. Mass to have a quieter and more prayerful time. After an early breakfast and unwrapping a few presents, we drove off. We arrived 10 minutes early and found plenty of parking.

The church had lots of people in it but everyone was sitting and there was still a few empty spots here and there. Lucy had a bit of wanderlust and forgot to whisper a few times, but otherwise was good. After communion, she wandered into the pew in front of us which was empty. Jacob followed her trying to convince her to come back to our pew because this was someone else's spot. He did a great job whispering but a poor job convincing. She came out the other end and back into our pew.

Lucy did do a great job shaking hands at the sign of peace. The people behind us were impressed. Jacob said most of the responses and was generally well behaved. Except for going to the toilet in the middle of Mass. They made it back for the Our Father. We lit candles after Mass. Both Jacob and Lucy prayed for Mommy.

Father's homily was quite good. He spoke about the superficiality of the secular version of Christmas we find in our culture. But even that still retains the core message of the Nativity--the exchange of gifts. We think of others before ourselves and remember the importance of family and of peaceful times. I wish everyone the peace of Christmas and hope that extends beyond today, far into the new year.

Christmas Eve in the UK

One tradition here in Britain is to tell ghost stories on Christmas eve. Tales are told late in the evening. When the midnight bell chimes you open your front door to let out the ghosts and welcome in the spirit of Christmas. This may have been part of the inspiration for Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Looks like a zombie but is really a ghost

Since most everyone but me will be in bed late Christmas eve, I'm planning on either reading some stories from M. R. James or, if there's time, watching The Devil's Backbone, a movie directed by Guillermo del Toro about a haunted boys' school during the Spanish Civil War. It's not his best work but is a worthy companion piece to Pan's Labyrinth. I'll write a review if the spirit moves me (pun intended). I probably won't open the front door, though.

If you'd like to hear a good ghost story, I'd recommend Oh Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad by M. R. James from the Classic Tales podcast or Two Christmas Ghost Stories by Robertson Davies from Forgotten Classics. Forgotten Classics also has a new Christmas story this year by Louis L'Amour but I haven't listened yet so I don't know if it's a ghost story or not.

2012 Reading List

Inspired by Happy Catholic Julie and Rivets and Trees Scott (the dynamic duo who bring us biweekly A Good Story Is Hard to Find goodness), I am making some reading goals for 2012. Here they are:

Books on Writing, because I want to be a better writer:

• On Writing by Stephen King (the guy probably writes more in one day than I read in one day)
• Zen and the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury (if there is one author I could wish myself into being, it would be he)

Faith, because I am nearing Part 4 of the Catechism, which is on prayer, I plan to follow up with books on the Psalms:

• Reflections on the Psalms by C. S. Lewis
• Singing in the Reign by Michael Patrick Barber (by a Catholic Bible scholar and who doesn't love that title?)
• The Psalms of David illustrated by James Freemantle (picked this up at a used bookstore and hope it is good)

Fiction, because there is awesome stuff I need to get too:

• Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander (famous fantasy series in five books that aren't wrist-breakingly huge)
• Chaos Trilogy by John C. Wright  (given to me by my best friend a few years ago, it's time to read them!)
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (since the movie is coming out, I want to reread it in preparation)
  

Speaking of The Hobbit, about half the blogs I read have posted the trailer for the movie coming out in December 2012, so I will flatter them through imitation.




I know it doesn't seem like a terribly ambitious list, but I do have two children under 5 years old who are zombifying me. Which reminds me, I will be reading some zombie lit and parenting books, too.

Cheltenham Visit

We had some errands to run in the middle of England, which meant we spent a few days in Cheltenham. While there we had a few adventures.

When we arrived, we checked in to our hotel and almost immediately headed out to dinner with some friends at an Italian restaurant called Zizzi's. It's part of a UK chain and the food was good. The atmosphere was a little bit weird because it's located in a former church. All the pews and the altar have been taken out. The stained glass windows and lots of ornate carving remain. The kitchen is right where the altar used to be which was just a little bizarre. Lots of churches have been re-purposed here in England but this just seemed off.

As I said, the food is great and we had a fun time chatting with friends. They just didn't change enough to make it less obviously a church inside.

The next day my wife had some meetings so the kids and I wandered around the town. We walked along the High Street (which is the shopping district in most UK towns) and wandered into the Regent Mall to get out of the cold. We found a nice coffee shop to get a snack, which included a red Christmas cupcake for Lucy. Jacob wanted something with raisins so I ordered him a scone. I ordered a blueberry muffin. When we sat at our table, Jacob realized what I had and wanted to trade right away. I was happy to oblige.

We also discovered Thomas the Tank Engine near the toilets (because, if you have been reading this blog, you know Jacob had to visit the toilet).

Jacob played the role of engineer

Next, we walked over to Neptune's Fountain. Unfortunately, the weather was too cold for Neptune to have running water. It's tough to be a sea god without a lively sea!

Posing with the god and his still fountain

Closeup (but not too close!)

The nearby information office gave us the ultimate scoop--where the nearest playground was located! Jacob and Lucy were excited to venture on to the ultimate tourist destination that wasn't a potty. As we walked we saw some of the regency-style architecture and some interesting buildings.

Cool statues/columns adorned this round building

Finally, we arrived at the playground in Montpelier Gardens. At first, we attempted the larger playground, but that was really meant for older and taller children.

Jacob was undaunted but unsuccessful

So we wound up at the little playground that worked out perfectly for Jacob and Lucy. They enjoyed playing separately and playing together.

Playing separately

Enjoying the seesaw together!

Swinging for fun and laughter!

We headed back to the hotel for lunch and a nap. Unfortunately we were there on a Monday and the Holst Birthplace Museum was closed. That was probably fortunate for the children. Gustav Holst was the composer of The Planets.

That night we had dinner with some other friends in their home. Jacob discovered the joy of sitting in a bean-bag chair. We had a fabulous chicken dish with pasta on the side (which was the main dish for the children). They also served yummy home-made brownies with ice cream. Jacob didn't want ice cream so Lucy took his share.

The next day we wandered around town with Mommy, showing her some of the sites that we saw and discovering new ones. We walked through the Brewery Center, which had movies and restaurants but no actual brewery. We found a few interesting churches but all were closed except one that was having a Christmas Carols and Lessons featuring students from the church's primary school. But I will save that story for our twelve days of UK Christmas blog series, which will be starting in a few days (if you are reading as I post).

Lunchtime was upon us. We walked back towards our hotel and along the way found George's Organic Cafe for a refreshing repast. I've already posted about it here, since it was my first experience of a jacket potato. After that we returned to our hotel to check out and head off on another adventure.

We missed out on two big sites in Cheltenham: The Pittville Pump Room and the racetrack. Maybe we'll be back in nicer weather and when the horses are running!